nic's recent activity
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Comment on Single vaccine could protect against all coughs, colds and flus, researchers say in ~health
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Comment on Single vaccine could protect against all coughs, colds and flus, researchers say in ~health
nic Link ParentYou are referring to what is mainstream in the US. This article was not specifically written by an American, and it was not written specifically for an American public. @updawg was correct, the UK...You are referring to what is mainstream in the US.
This article was not specifically written by an American, and it was not written specifically for an American public.
@updawg was correct, the UK road code calls the colors red, amber, green.
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Comment on US Supreme Court strikes down Donald Trump's tariffs in ~society
nic LinkIt's already posted here https://tildes.net/~society/1ssq/us_supreme_court_strikes_down_donald_trumps_sweeping_tariffs_upending_central_plank_of_economic and here... -
Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of February 16 in ~society
nic Link ParentThomas and Alito dissented, yet again, along with Kavanaugh. Thomas and Alito have consistently ruled in favor of Trump. Trump has repeatedly ignored precedent, law, constitution, and yet Thomas...Thomas and Alito dissented, yet again, along with Kavanaugh.
Thomas and Alito have consistently ruled in favor of Trump.
Trump has repeatedly ignored precedent, law, constitution, and yet Thomas and Alito still consistently rule in his favor.
The Supreme Court justices typically figure out how they want to rule first, then they ask their clerks to come up with some sort of legal rationale to get there.
What is amazing, is how what Thomas and Alito want somehow magically aligns with what Trump wants. It must be pure coincidence.
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Comment on Single vaccine could protect against all coughs, colds and flus, researchers say in ~health
nic Link ParentThose in the US will likely know Amber refers to a missing child named amber. Those in the UK might simply think amber refers to the color yellow/brown, similar to the yellow color in a traffic...Those in the US will likely know Amber refers to a missing child named amber.
Those in the UK might simply think amber refers to the color yellow/brown, similar to the yellow color in a traffic light, so one step less severe than a red alert.
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Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of February 16 in ~society
nic Link ParentIf I read your comment correctly, I think you underestimate the ability for conservative media to focus outrage on even a minor thing for months, and you overestimate the Democrats willingness to...If I read your comment correctly, I think you underestimate the ability for conservative media to focus outrage on even a minor thing for months, and you overestimate the Democrats willingness to play hardball.
I frankly haven't seen anything from the Democrats, other than more of the same.
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Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of February 16 in ~society
nic Link ParentWow... Brendan Carr, has proposed removing an exception to the equal time rule that previously allowed politicians on talk shows and radio shows, but otherwise required equal time for candidates...Wow...
Brendan Carr, has proposed removing an exception to the equal time rule that previously allowed politicians on talk shows and radio shows, but otherwise required equal time for candidates during election periods.
The FCC's proposed rule change specifically targets talk show interviews with politicians, not right-wing talk radio.
The FCC previously opened an investigation into 'The View' following an interview with James Talarico.
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Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of February 16 in ~society
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Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of February 9 in ~society
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Comment on AI fails at 96% of jobs (new study) in ~tech
nic LinkAI did better remote work than 4% of humans? That's surprisingly high to me. And I work in this field. The question isn't if AI can complete the work autonomously by itself. The real question is...AI did better remote work than 4% of humans?
That's surprisingly high to me. And I work in this field.
The question isn't if AI can complete the work autonomously by itself.
The real question is can AI make people more productive.
METR did a study in July 2025, and found the answer was no, for experienced programmers familiar with a complex code base.
But what we are seeing in the real world is companies hiring less inexperienced developers. Which strongly suggests that AI can make inexperienced developers more productive.
And this technology is still rapidly changing.
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Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of February 9 in ~society
nic LinkMinnesota immigration enforcement surge is ending, Trump border tsar says Uhuh. Minnesota had over 10% of all ICE agents yet only 1% of the ICE arrests.Minnesota immigration enforcement surge is ending, Trump border tsar says
Operation Metro Surge was a "great success".
Uhuh. Minnesota had over 10% of all ICE agents yet only 1% of the ICE arrests.
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Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of February 9 in ~society
nic LinkThe US is flirting with its first-ever population decline Another interesting real world experiment. Will lower immigration and less population growth both boost wages and reduces costs? Trump...The US is flirting with its first-ever population decline
Another interesting real world experiment. Will lower immigration and less population growth both boost wages and reduces costs? Trump says yes. Economists say no.
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Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of February 9 in ~society
nic LinkWho wrangled the best trade deal from Donald Trump? Economists have always said that free trade is best. Interesting real world experiment.Who wrangled the best trade deal from Donald Trump?
For those who view trade as a zero-sum game, with deficits signifying failure and surpluses success, Mr Trump has been the clear winner.
In the end, the countries that made the largest concessions may be the ones which gain the most.
Economists have always said that free trade is best. Interesting real world experiment.
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Comment on AI hallucination cases - When lawyers use hallucinated legal content in ~tech
nic Link ParentLegal arguments face intense adversarial scrutiny. When hallucinations are discovered, the judge is going to document this, as it is a serious charge of misconduct against the attorney. This list...Legal arguments face intense adversarial scrutiny. When hallucinations are discovered, the judge is going to document this, as it is a serious charge of misconduct against the attorney.
This list is effectively an advertisement for a product that automatically scans for invalid references to case law. It's for lawyers to make sure they didn't include any hallucinations in their citations. If the author can productize that, they can automatically scan for findings of misconduct.
So while the list was manually reviewed (because lawyers are usually careful about this stuff) it almost certainly wasn't manually created.
They even are picking up cases where people self represented themselves and were found to have cited fake cases.
So sure, LLM usage is surely more common, but not by orders of magnitude more, at least not for the important bits that underpin key legal decisions.
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Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of February 2 in ~society
nic Link ParentThis actually surprised me. (I have an extremely low opinion of the Supreme Court in the USA.)This actually surprised me.
(I have an extremely low opinion of the Supreme Court in the USA.)
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Comment on AI hallucination cases - When lawyers use hallucinated legal content in ~tech
nic Link Parent900 sounds high, but this must be out of what, well over a hundred million legal case documents a year perhaps in the USA, even more globally, and there must be over a million lawyers in the USA...900 sounds high, but this must be out of what, well over a hundred million legal case documents a year perhaps in the USA, even more globally, and there must be over a million lawyers in the USA alone producing this content, so it's less than 0.1% of lawyers and an infinitesimally small number of documented cases. I am frankly surprised it isn't a little higher?
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Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of February 2 in ~society
nic Link ParentI am bothered by the articles lack of counterarguments. E.g. America interned Japanese during WW2, and after the crisis, those internment camps were removed.I am bothered by the articles lack of counterarguments.
E.g. America interned Japanese during WW2, and after the crisis, those internment camps were removed.
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Comment on Passing question about LLMs and the Tech Singularity in ~tech
nic (edited )Link ParentYou are confusing LLM's, which are predefined mathematical representations of human knowledge, with code, which runs pre-determined programs. Currently LLMs have no agency, no desire, no drive....You are confusing LLM's, which are predefined mathematical representations of human knowledge, with code, which runs pre-determined programs.
Currently LLMs have no agency, no desire, no drive. You (or LLMs) can write a bit of code to simulate this drive. But it will be very constrained and predefined.
Currently LLMs have really poor thinking skills. They learned how to write, how to draw, but not how to think. You can write code to teach an LLM how to think, but that is extremely constrained and predefined. It also requires the LLM to learn.
Currently LLMs can't learn anything new, on existing technology, without massive amounts of energy. This is what would need to change, I suspect, to achieve the AI Singularity.
Our brains are massively efficient at learning new things. And we have billions of brains. Yet we produce very few geniuses. To surpass us, LLMs would need massive efficiency gains or massive untapped energy sources.
Lastly, currently LLMs have no autonomy. It can't build new hardware or tap new sources of energy. All though, in spite of all his warnings about the risks of AI, Musk seems hell bent on giving AI autonomy :)
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Comment on In under 500 words, a US judge weaponized wit to free the child detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (gifted link) in ~society
nic (edited )LinkJudge Fred Biery serves in the Western District of Texas, which falls under the jurisdiction of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. The most conservative appeal court in the US, and probably in the...Judge Fred Biery serves in the Western District of Texas, which falls under the jurisdiction of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The most conservative appeal court in the US, and probably in the first world.
A few years back, he got reversed on a finding of an unreasonable search by the fifth circuit. When they sent it back to him, he found the search unreasonable a second time, quipping 'They can reverse me if they want to, but they can’t make me read it.' They reversed him again.
This order is surprisingly short and readable even for laymen. Which is far from typical for any court order. I don't think he wrote it for the fifth circuit.
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Comment on The AI industry doesn’t take “no” for an answer in ~tech
nic Link ParentYeah, there was that study recently that said experienced coders (familiar with the code base) were sure they were more productive with AI, but weren't, they just thought they were more...Yeah, there was that study recently that said experienced coders (familiar with the code base) were sure they were more productive with AI, but weren't, they just thought they were more productive.
Interesting times.
This is.... so lovely.
I believe the Ministry of Defence maintained that the word “bikini” was randomly selected by a computer... as they do with all code words, to confuse the enemy.
Was the bikini alert state simply too confusing to the public? Were the public having a hard time taking Bikini Alert State - Red as seriously as they should? Was it simply too whimsical for such a serious topic such as terrorism? Or did the UK Ministry of Defense get tired of all the other countries defense departments laughing out loud on the joint conference calls about terrorism threats?
Edit: I apologize for going off topic, but these are important questions.